Arkansas Tech University has received a gift of $294,000 to support the development of public school leaders through the Arkansas Tech Center for Leadership and Learning (CLL).

The grant from the Walton Family Foundation will be used to fund the Arkansas Tech CLL Leader to Leader programs for school superintendents and principals. Fifty-four school leadership personnel from around the state are enrolled in the program during the 2012-13 academic year.

Participants in the superintendent and principal Leader to Leader programs at Arkansas Tech gather for meetings throughout the academic year to learn new techniques in school administration and share information about their common challenges and solutions.

“Our investments in education in Arkansas and across the United States are driven by the urgent need to dramatically raise student achievement,” said Kathy Smith, senior program officer for Arkansas education at the Walton Family Foundation. “This program can help to further develop a strong pipeline of school leaders in Arkansas dedicated to educational excellence across the state.”

Dr. Merle Dickerson, superintendent of the Van Buren School District, serves as director for the Leader to Leader programs at Arkansas Tech. Dr. Mary Gunter, dean of the Arkansas Tech Graduate College, provides additional oversight of the programs.

“On behalf of the Arkansas Tech Graduate College and the Arkansas Tech Center for Leadership and Learning, I express my appreciation to the Walton Family Foundation for its support of the Leader to Leader programs at Arkansas Tech,” said Gunter. “Leader to Leader is a professional development opportunity for school leadership personnel that is making a difference for K-12 education in our state. Arkansas Tech is proud to be in a position to offer the Leader to Leader programs, and we are grateful to the Walton Family Foundation for making it possible.”

Visit www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org to learn more about the Walton Family Foundation, and visit www.atu.edu/cll to learn more about the Arkansas Tech Center for Leadership and Learning.